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New Jersey continues among the leaders in the nation, with 130 politicians arrested in the last 8 years. Maybe it's the economy. The recession hit New Jersey so hard the Mafia laid off three judges, a police chief and two mayors.
But we have a long history of this stuff. Back in the 80's the Abscam Scandal involved a NJ Senator.
In the 1990's CBS news called my hometown, Edison, the most corrupt town in the nation.
Was it because our town sold a park with historical significance to a developer for 2 million bucks, then when they realized their mistake, bought back part of it for 6 million? To ensure the developer took the deal, they condemned and seized "abandoned" land across the sreet and included it. By the way, the "abandoned" land had a bus depot on it and the bus business was in excess of a million dollars a year. That didn't matter.
Nope, that didn't even figure in it.
The godfather of corruption in Jersey politics is Frank Hague. He never made more than $9000 in a year, yet after 30 years as mayor of Hoboken, he left an estate of $5 million. This was back in the 50's, when a million dollars was big money.
Our largest city, Newark, has not had a mayor leave office without a jail term following since 1962. The last mayor is currently serving a 20 year term.
I suppose we should look the bright side. We have 566 municipal governments. So the means 563 officials didn't get arrested.
Yet.
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22 comments:
Wow that's quite a claim to fame DOM.
So happy to see you blogging! Yay, yay, and Yay!
Now please don't tell us that you're going to be running for Mayor anytime soon.
I still think of you as a good guy and apparently you HAVE to be a bad guy to be Mayor in your city!
Ha!
Glad to see you back blogging. I was surprised they only arrested 44 people. Oh and I heard the kidney they sold went for 160 grand.
I only wish my mayor had gotten caught in the sting he is useless.
It's the 'American Way!'
Glad to see your wit and crotchetyness are back to full power! :)
Glad to see your state police are on the job. A cop on the take might have looked the other way but they didn't "passover" the rabbis in their investigation.
So everything I've heard about New Jersey really is true. Sigh. I was trying to stay positive and upbeat. Oh well. I'll check and see if I can get you a deal on a kidney here in Texas.
It's nice to see that the mayors there have someplace to go after they finish being mayors. Otherwise, it can be a lonely existence after leaving public office.
Ah... how I miss my home state sometimes! Of course, we currently have a mayor who's just about old enough now to pledge for a fraternity, and without an invite snuck in to a local private golf outing and then lied about it just so he could meet Tiger Woods.
He also used a city SUV to take his girlfriend and buddies to a concert, and left empties in the vehicle.
Charming, eh? :)
Yep, I wasn't surprised when I saw this news flash. Well, you got to make a living somehow. Bwahahahahahaha.
What kind of food do you want me to sneak in for you?
Have a terrific day Crotchety. :)
Sad truth.
I guess I have missed lots since I have been gone. I hear you were away in the hospital. Hope you are feeling good and everything turned out.
If not, at least you can apparently buy a new body part from those guys?
Down here people will list the most corrupt states as N.J., La. and Ms. in that order. At least we are not on the bottom of that list. No wait. That would be good. Dammit!
Heh heh. Being from NJ the hubby and I watched the NY news report(we have roving satellite TV) and didn't even blink and eye at this report out here in Montana.
Politics as usual in the Garden State.
Good to see you keeping up with the world news. Hope you're feeling much better & will be home soon!
my parents are from Newark (when you could be from there without shame - if there ever was a time like that)...
@ Quirky: I will not run for mayor. But if elected I will not serve.
@ HR Diva: I'm sure more will be arrested.
@ Adullamite: I'm working on it. The stroke took a lot away.
@ Nonamed: Our police are always getting in trouble for something. That's why the FBI in involved.
@ Reforming: It's worse.
@ Joel: Yes, it's sort of a retire ment plan.
@ Jenn: Nobody does corruption like your home state, though.
@ Sandee: Pizza would be nice.
@ Hussy: They are out of business
:(
@ Don: NJ is # 1
@ Pricilla: Our politicians don't let us down.
@ Collette: Trying to keep up.
@ Swirl Girl: There never was.
Hee!
The funny thing is that when I first heard about all this in the news, my first thought was NOT about how low society has sunk.
No, my first thought was "Wow, cool! New Jersey! I know a Crotchety Old Man who lives there!"
Seeeee, I was right (wink*wink) everybody wanted to hear the REAL Version of what happened.
you know I think they probably could round up a kidney for you out of that buncha kosher criminals - oooyyyyyyyy vey.
but assuredly not a heart or brain between the whole of em. smdh..
obtw, I'm gonna steal this post and repost it on badgals, as our response to the rabbis' gone bad.
you deserve it OLD Friend.
Great Work -
hey how many kilos you give up today ?
Holy crapola! That's a pretty impressive record. My father used to call New Jersey the armpit of the midwest, but, since he worked for EPA, I assumed it was all because of the toxic waste. Apparently, more than the soil was contaminated.
Take care.
That bit about Newark's mayors just blows me away. Totally. Time for a new system of government in Newark, I'd say. I'm not making enough $$$ right now, so maybe NJ would be a good for me....
Hey do you have any tobacco lawyers in NJ?
We can trade you Dickie Scruggs and all for a couple of your mayors.....
Is it a deal?
It's everywhere - not just New Jersey.
This post reminded me a video clip of a live interview with an Australian politician. He may not be crooked or even a bad guy, but he certainly knows how to talk a lot without saying anything. Here's the link: http://lipstickelection.blogspot.com/2009/07/front-fell-off-live-interview-with-real.html
Jon Stewart, a NJ native, did a bit the other night on the kidney trafficking. He showed a graphic of one sticking out of a fake Gucci bag.
I vaguely remember Abscam. I'm going to have to go look it up now. Thanks, DOM. Now you're giving me homework.
"Newark has not had a mayor leave office without a jail term following since 1962. "
OMG seriously?????
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